diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreter.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreter.java
index a9c86c4..e8b2ebd 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreter.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreter.java
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
   private int maxPoolSize;
   private String host;
   private int port;
+  private String portRange;
   private String userName;
   private Boolean isUserImpersonate;
   private int outputLimit = Constants.ZEPPELIN_INTERPRETER_OUTPUT_LIMIT;
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@
       String interpreterRunner, String interpreterPath, String localRepoPath, int connectTimeout,
       int maxPoolSize, RemoteInterpreterProcessListener remoteInterpreterProcessListener,
       ApplicationEventListener appListener, String userName, Boolean isUserImpersonate,
-      int outputLimit) {
+      int outputLimit, String portRange) {
     super(property);
     this.sessionKey = sessionKey;
     this.className = className;
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@
     this.userName = userName;
     this.isUserImpersonate = isUserImpersonate;
     this.outputLimit = outputLimit;
+    this.portRange = portRange;
   }
 
 
@@ -184,7 +186,7 @@
         } else {
           // create new remote process
           remoteProcess = new RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess(
-              interpreterRunner, interpreterPath, localRepoPath, env, connectTimeout,
+              interpreterRunner, interpreterPath, localRepoPath, portRange, env, connectTimeout,
               remoteInterpreterProcessListener, applicationEventListener);
         }
 
diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess.java
index f5d73ed..d638f37 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
   private ExecuteWatchdog watchdog;
   boolean running = false;
   private int port = -1;
+  private String portRange;
   private final String interpreterDir;
   private final String localRepoDir;
 
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@
       String intpRunner,
       String intpDir,
       String localRepoDir,
+      String portRange,
       Map<String, String> env,
       int connectTimeout,
       RemoteInterpreterProcessListener listener,
@@ -61,12 +63,14 @@
     this.env = env;
     this.interpreterDir = intpDir;
     this.localRepoDir = localRepoDir;
+    this.portRange = portRange;
 
   }
 
   RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess(String intpRunner,
                                   String intpDir,
                                   String localRepoDir,
+                                  String portRange,
                                   Map<String, String> env,
                                   RemoteInterpreterEventPoller remoteInterpreterEventPoller,
                                   int connectTimeout) {
@@ -76,6 +80,7 @@
     this.env = env;
     this.interpreterDir = intpDir;
     this.localRepoDir = localRepoDir;
+    this.portRange = portRange;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -92,7 +97,7 @@
   public void start(String userName, Boolean isUserImpersonate) {
     // start server process
     try {
-      port = RemoteInterpreterUtils.findRandomAvailablePortOnAllLocalInterfaces();
+      port = RemoteInterpreterUtils.findRandomAvailablePortOnAllLocalInterfaces(portRange);
     } catch (IOException e1) {
       throw new InterpreterException(e1);
     }
diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterUtils.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterUtils.java
index 2937e2d..bdf98ff 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterUtils.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterUtils.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 package org.apache.zeppelin.interpreter.remote;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -40,6 +41,47 @@
     return port;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * start:end
+   *
+   * @param portRange
+   * @return
+   * @throws IOException
+   */
+  public static int findRandomAvailablePortOnAllLocalInterfaces(String portRange)
+      throws IOException {
+
+    // ':' is the default value which means no constraints on the portRange
+    if (StringUtils.isBlank(portRange) || portRange.equals(":")) {
+      int port;
+      try (ServerSocket socket = new ServerSocket(0);) {
+        port = socket.getLocalPort();
+        socket.close();
+      }
+      return port;
+    }
+    // valid user registered port https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_port
+    int start = 1024;
+    int end = 65535;
+    String[] ports = portRange.split(":", -1);
+    if (!ports[0].isEmpty()) {
+      start = Integer.parseInt(ports[0]);
+    }
+    if (!ports[1].isEmpty()) {
+      end = Integer.parseInt(ports[1]);
+    }
+    for (int i = start; i <= end; ++i) {
+      try {
+        ServerSocket socket = new ServerSocket(i);
+        socket.close();
+        return socket.getLocalPort();
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        // ignore this
+      }
+    }
+    throw new IOException("No available port in the portRange: " + portRange);
+  }
+
   public static boolean checkIfRemoteEndpointAccessible(String host, int port) {
     try {
       Socket discover = new Socket();
diff --git a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterProcessTest.java b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterProcessTest.java
index 39a17ae..150f6a9 100644
--- a/zeppelin-interpreter/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterProcessTest.java
+++ b/zeppelin-interpreter/src/test/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/remote/RemoteInterpreterProcessTest.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
   public void testStartStop() {
     InterpreterGroup intpGroup = new InterpreterGroup();
     RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess rip = new RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess(
-        INTERPRETER_SCRIPT, "nonexists", "fakeRepo", new HashMap<String, String>(),
+        INTERPRETER_SCRIPT, "nonexists", "fakeRepo", ":", new HashMap<String, String>(),
         10 * 1000, null, null);
     assertFalse(rip.isRunning());
     assertEquals(0, rip.referenceCount());
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
   public void testClientFactory() throws Exception {
     InterpreterGroup intpGroup = new InterpreterGroup();
     RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess rip = new RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess(
-        INTERPRETER_SCRIPT, "nonexists", "fakeRepo", new HashMap<String, String>(),
+        INTERPRETER_SCRIPT, "nonexists", "fakeRepo", ":", new HashMap<String, String>(),
         mock(RemoteInterpreterEventPoller.class), 10 * 1000);
     rip.reference(intpGroup, "anonymous", false);
     assertEquals(0, rip.getNumActiveClient());
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@
         INTERPRETER_SCRIPT,
         "nonexists",
         "fakeRepo",
+        ":",
         new HashMap<String, String>(),
         mock(RemoteInterpreterEventPoller.class)
         , 10 * 1000);
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@
   public void testPropagateError() throws TException, InterruptedException {
     InterpreterGroup intpGroup = new InterpreterGroup();
     RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess rip = new RemoteInterpreterManagedProcess(
-        "echo hello_world", "nonexists", "fakeRepo", new HashMap<String, String>(),
+        "echo hello_world", "nonexists", "fakeRepo", ":", new HashMap<String, String>(),
         10 * 1000, null, null);
     assertFalse(rip.isRunning());
     assertEquals(0, rip.referenceCount());
diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
index 242a890..d2df6d8 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/conf/ZeppelinConfiguration.java
@@ -492,6 +492,9 @@
     return getString(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_SERVER_STRICT_TRANSPORT);
   }
 
+  public String getInterpreterPortRange() {
+    return getString(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_INTERPRETER_PORTRANGE);
+  }
 
   public Map<String, String> dumpConfigurations(ZeppelinConfiguration conf,
                                                 ConfigurationKeyPredicate predicate) {
@@ -639,7 +642,9 @@
     ZEPPELIN_SERVER_XFRAME_OPTIONS("zeppelin.server.xframe.options", "SAMEORIGIN"),
     ZEPPELIN_SERVER_JETTY_NAME("zeppelin.server.jetty.name", null),
     ZEPPELIN_SERVER_STRICT_TRANSPORT("zeppelin.server.strict.transport", "max-age=631138519"),
-    ZEPPELIN_SERVER_X_XSS_PROTECTION("zeppelin.server.xxss.protection", "1");
+    ZEPPELIN_SERVER_X_XSS_PROTECTION("zeppelin.server.xxss.protection", "1"),
+
+    ZEPPELIN_INTERPRETER_PORTRANGE("zeppelin.interpreter.portRange", ":");
 
     private String varName;
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
diff --git a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterFactory.java b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterFactory.java
index 2091dfd..accbfcf 100644
--- a/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterFactory.java
+++ b/zeppelin-zengine/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/interpreter/InterpreterFactory.java
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@
         new RemoteInterpreter(property, interpreterSessionKey, className,
             interpreterRunnerPath, interpreterPath, localRepoPath, connectTimeout, maxPoolSize,
             remoteInterpreterProcessListener, appEventListener, userName, isUserImpersonate,
-            conf.getInt(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_INTERPRETER_OUTPUT_LIMIT));
+            conf.getInt(ConfVars.ZEPPELIN_INTERPRETER_OUTPUT_LIMIT),
+            conf.getInterpreterPortRange());
     remoteInterpreter.addEnv(env);
 
     return new LazyOpenInterpreter(remoteInterpreter);